Ergonomic keyboard

Where can I get a split or ergonomic keyboard for an iMac?

Rob Wightman

There are various USB keyboards which have an ‘ergonomic’ design, although none yet appear to offer the adjustable split of the original Apple product. Because they’re designed for Windows PCs, they lack special keys (for example, Apple/Command and Power keys), so they’re not as good as those designed specifically for Macs. If you buy a USB to ADB adaptor, such as Griffin iMate, then you can connect a second-hand Apple Adjustable Keyboard. This is a good option, as the iMate doesn’t need a driver for keyboards, and the Mac OS supports that model. However, if your iMac is an early (Rev A or B) model, you’ll need to perform the ROM upgrade on it before installing an iMate. If you want to be both ergo and retro, you can then use an original Apple ADB Mouse as well.

Internet and old Macs

Some years ago I bought a UMAX Apus 2000, which still has 16Mb of RAM and a 1.2Gb hard disk, and runs Mac OS 7.5.5. Although I have a Pace 56K modem, it seems to take 20 minutes to load a decent Web page. How should I upgrade my computer to access the Internet better?

Sharon Ponsonby

The performance of your Internet connection and Web browser would be increased more by adding RAM than by any other single step, although suspect other issues, such as a slow connection to your ISP, as the main culprit. Your Mac clone has a PowerPC 603e processor running at 160MHz, and can be expanded to a maximum of 160Mb using special 3.3V EDO DIMMs. If you do decide to increase the memory, you must be careful, as its three DIMM slots aren’t the same: the first can take a maximum of 32Mb, while the other two can take 64Mb each.

Although its processor is mounted on a separate daughtercard, and so would have been easy to upgrade, no upgrades are available. You would also need to add more disk space, either internally or with an external SCSI drive. If you add up the cost of the additional memory and external hard disk, you would already be well on the way to paying for a brand new iMac, which would run very much quicker and offer better future compatibility, and you would still be able to run your existing Mac software.

Outlook Express error

Microsoft Outlook Express stopped receiving emails, giving an error code of -3279, and Internet Explorer now refuses to connect (thankfully, Netscape Navigator still works OK). I had to re-initialise my hard disk and re-install everything to get them working, but now the same has happened again. What’s the problem?

That’s a very unusual error code, officially interpreted as meaning that the Open Transport Client wasn’t initialised properly (kOTClientNotInittedErr). If you had to go as far as re-initialising your hard disk, then you should suspect a serious software or hardware problem which is taking out part of Open Transport, the communication and networking system within the Mac OS.

Before you go any further, back up all your work and the other contents of your hard disk. Then, using the latest version of Drive Setup (or your chosen third-party disk driver), initialise and check your hard disk. Install a standard configuration of the Mac OS, avoiding adding any third-party extensions at this stage. Next, configure your Internet settings and install your Internet software, including Outlook Express and Internet Explorer. If you suffer similar problems again, then you should suspect a hardware problem; only when you’re confident that this no-frills system is stable should you consider adding anything (extensions, control panels and so on) which might have caused your original problem.

IP address problems

We have a small network running AppleTalk over Ethernet, but to use our dial-up cable Internet connection, we have to obtain a new IP address each day. The only way I can get this to work is to re-boot my computer every time I connect. How can I avoid this?

Henk Cortier

Unless you’re running IP over AppleShare, perhaps with an AppleShare IP server, when you may need to have static IP address assignment, straight AppleTalk protocols won’t need such static assignment. As such, you should be able to leave the TCP/IP control panel set up for your external Internet connection. In that case, make sure it’s configured to obtain your IP address from an external server ­ for example, the PPP server. Once that’s set, you shouldn’t have to restart your Mac or fiddle around with the modem. If you still can’t get it to work, you may have a problem with the modem or its driver, which will probably need support from its supplier. Alternatively, you may be running other software which is upsetting the modem or TCP/IP settings.

Lightning damage

Recently, a tremendous flash of lightning struck about 100 yards away, and my computer screens flashed white and the Macs then restarted. Since then, neither Mac seems able to dial out, and my MIDI system no longer works. Have they been damaged by the lightning strike?

Graeme Taylor

Your Macs have almost certainly suffered damage to their motherboards as a result of voltage surges resulting from the lightning strike, although you should check with another modem and MIDI connector to see if the damage may be limited to those devices.

If the building in which computers are located is struck directly, it normally results in complete destruction; there’s little you can do to ameliorate that, other than keeping off-site backups and good insurance cover. Much more common are transient surges in voltage, applied through the mains or telephone connections, which can affect properties within quite a wide radius of the strike. You can reduce the chances of damage from these by shutting down your hardware and disconnecting it all from mains, telephone, and any other electrical connections. You should check to see whether your insurance policy covers this type of damage, and get a repair estimate from your local Apple dealer.

DVD drive software

Since upgrading my blue-and-white Power Mac G3 350MHz to Mac OS 9.0.4, my DVD drive no longer works. Is there a problem with Mac OS 9?

Matthew

The problem lies not with Mac OS 9, but almost certainly with your installation of it. You need the following extensions for your DVD drive to work properly: Apple CD/DVD Driver, DVD Decoder Library, DVD Region Manager, Foreign File Access, High Sierra File Access, ISO 9660 File Access, and UDF Volume Access (all of which should be in the Extensions folder inside your active System Folder). In your Apple Extras folder (or wherever you keep your player application), you’ll need the Apple DVD Player application, together with DVDRuntimeLib and DVD Navigation Manager. Furthermore, these must all come from the same Mac OS installation, or they may not work together. You may find that you need to perform a custom install to get these properly installed.

TCP/IP utilities

Where can I find TCP/IP utilities such as Ping, traceroute, and so on?

Richard Penn

The best single freeware utility offering this network (and Internet) essentials is Bryan Christianson’s WhatRoute (www.whatroute.net). The latest version has ping, traceroute, DNS query, finger, and whois functionality. When tracing, it has real map support, and more.

Mac OS corruption

I’ve had several error messages since installing Mac OS 8, mainly concerning problems with QuickTime mismatches. However, the biggest problem is that trying to use the Finder menu bar makes the Desktop disappear and everything freezes for about 10 seconds. How can I repair these?

T McEvoy

At the very least, these problems result from a corrupted installation of QuickTime. It sounds as if you have some components from one version and some from another (perhaps 3.0). You may well have a corrupted System Folder, with a mixture of bits from System 7 and Mac OS 8. Back up all your work and applications, and start a clean installation from scratch. To do this, restart from the Mac OS 8.0.1 or 8.1 CD-ROM. Run the copy of Disk First Aid found on the CD to ensure your disk isn’t corrupted. Then run Drive Setup (or your third-party disk driver installer) to bring the hard disk drivers up to date.

If you encounter any problems with these, you may need to initialise your hard disk and start with a clean slate. When you do come to re-install the Mac OS, make sure you opt for a clean install, and don’t rush to add too much to the new System Folder initially.

Web browser plugins

I’ve been using Adobe LiveMotion to design a Web site. Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 runs the page fine, but Netscape Communicator 4.7.2 can’t find the plug-in. I duplicated the Shockwave plug-in from Communicator’s plug-ins folder to Internet Explorer’s, so how come it doesn’t work for both of them?

Ed Gain

Avoid cutting corners when installing complicated plug-ins such as Shockwave. You should throw away your existing Shockwave plug-ins from both Communicator and Internet Explorer, and run the plug-in installer to perform separate installations for each browser. You should then find that both browsers work fine.

Upgrade decisions

My blue-and-white G3 has 384Mb of RAM, two 6Gb ATA hard disks and all sorts of other add-ons and add-ins. Although more speed would be nice, I need a lot more hard disk space, but some software I have to use requires ADB dongles. Should I upgrade to a new dual-processor G4?

Helen Blake

In the UK, there are currently tax incentives for small businesses to invest in computers, with a 100% first year capital allowance, making a new system financially attractive. However, for you, the major advantages would be the improvement in free disk space and accelerated speed.

The speed advantages in a G4 system become greatest when you’re running applications which perform a lot of floating-point arithmetic calculations, as these can benefit from the Velocity Engine in G4s. Having two G4 processors rather than one is currently of limited benefit to most users, as (until the advent of Mac OS X, at least) only certain applications can use the second processor.

If you perform complex processing in Adobe Photoshop, then MP support is likely to be worthwhile. You can even ‘rip’ and play MP3 music quicker, using SoundJam MP, but most ordinary Mac applications will be unable to do anything useful with the second processor.

The other issue to consider is that a new G4 doesn’t have built-in support for ADB devices such as dongles. For those, you would need an adaptor such as the Griffin iMate. Although this is likely to be acceptable, it has been associated with an increased frequency of Finder crashes, at least on blue-and-white G3s under Mac OS 8.6. If you can, consider keeping your G3 for the time being to run both machines, so you can migrate steadily to the G4.

Before committing to an admittedly attractive new system, consider upgrading your hard disks. Suppliers who advertise in MacUser ­ for example Mac & More­ are asking very low prices on huge disks, such as the 45Gb IBM ATA. This would be easy to install, particularly if you can copy the contents of your non-startup disk onto an external disk such as a 10Gb FireWire drive.

Check you’re replacing disk 1, the ATA ‘slave’, using Apple System Profiler. When you open your Mac’s case, you’ll see the two hard disks at the bottom, and one will have its jumpers set in the ‘master’ position (disk 0), the other as the ‘slave’ (disk 1). Simply disconnect the ribbon cable connectors and power cables to the disks, pop out the carrier tray, swap the old for the new, and reassemble. The jumpers on the new disk must be set to make it the ‘slave’, of course. Once you start up again, you can initialise the new disk with Drive Setup (or the third-party driver of your choice).

Game controllers

Which game controllers are compatible with Connectix Virtual GameStation? Can I use those controllers instead of a mouse?

Tom Evans

Almost all USB input devices will work with Virtual GameStation, although you’ll need to ensure you have the InputSprocket extension active (part of Apple’s GameSprockets, and usually installed as an optional part of the Mac OS, or with many games, and so on).

Installation disks supplied by manufacturers such as Gravis usually contain InputSprocket, and may also add useful USB drivers. Many recent games support this same mechanism, and you can obtain shareware products such as HappyGear (homepage.mac.com/austinsoft/HappyGear_Installer.bin) or USB Overdrive (www.usboverdrive.com) which should allow you to use a controller with older games and any other application as well.